New "Project Ara" details show how it works, but that's just half the battle.

Technology has been getting smaller and more tightly integrated for years, but that doesn't mean everyone likes it that way. Enthusiasts in particular (including many Ars readers) are vocal about things like soldered-in system RAM, non-replaceable batteries, and other design decisions that improve our gadgets in some ways at the expense of repairability and expandability.

Google's "Project Ara" is a phone that wants to fight that trend. The goal is to create a smartphone pieced together from individual modules, theoretically giving users the ability to upgrade and repair their phones without replacing the entire thing every couple of years or so. Phone too slow? Upgrade the processor. Hate your camera? Get a new one. Battery worn out? Replace it.

And people seem interested, at least in theory—a concept video for "Phonebloks," a modular phone idea not unlike Project Ara, has amassed more than 19 million views on YouTube as of this writing. At Google's first Project Ara developers conference this week, the company showed off an actual prototype and detailed some of the technologies that will take this phone from a nice-looking, nice-sounding concept photo to an actual, usable device. The prototype simultaneously demonstrates the idea's promise and the reasons why it may struggle to succeed.

The building blocks

Enlarge/ The "endoskeleton" into which the different Ara modules are arranged.

Tested.com's Norman Chan has what is probably the most thorough technical explainer of how the current Project Ara prototypes fit together. The two basic building blocks are the "endoskeleton," the main body of the phone, and the "modules," the small building blocks that contain the processor, battery, storage, camera, and other bits and pieces.

Each endoskeleton is best thought of as a grid into which modules can be placed. The standard Ara phone is a 3×6 grid of blocks, while smaller and larger 2×5 and 4×7 endoskeletons are also apparently being considered. Modules come in three different sizes: 1×1, 2×1, or 2×2. The module with the processor (which is also, by necessity, the same module on which the RAM and SD card slot must be placed) is a 2×2 module, but essentially the entire rest of the phone can be arranged as users see fit.

Google believes that piecing together a functional Project Ara phone should cost less than $100, at least to start—that bill of materials includes $15 for the endoskeleton frame itself, $15 for a display, $5 for a battery, $10 for the main SoC and RAM, and $5 for Wi-Fi. Those components will probably need to be marked up to maintain profit margins, and it's safe to say that none of them will be high-end at those prices—the processor in the demo unit is apparently a TI OMAP 4460 not unlike the one in 2011's Galaxy Nexus. The promise of the project is that users can pick and choose what they want, though. They can spend $100 and make a low-end phone, but they can also slap in a fast processor or a nicer screen if they're willing to cough up the money for it.

Each endoskeleton is projected to last for five or six years. Google believes that the interconnects will provide enough bandwidth to keep the phones chugging along for at least that much time, but a small built-in reserve battery will limit each endoskeleton's total lifespan. Consider that idea next to today's smartphones to see why Ara has some people excited—if you were still using a phone made in 2008, you'd have an iPhone 3G or perhaps the very first commercially available Android phone. Now that the pace of technological advancement has slowed a bit, a phone that you can repair and upgrade for half a decade doesn't sound so insane.

Connecting it together

Enlarge/ The front face of Ara. The M-PHY contacts used to communicate with the screen are clearly visible.

To stick all of this together, you need interconnects that are fast enough to allow these different pieces to communicate, plus something to physically hold the phone together.

All the pieces communicate using the "Unified Protocol" or UniPro, a technology created by the MIPI Alliance. Current Ara modules are given either 10Gbps or 20Gbps of bandwidth (the higher speed is reserved for larger modules like the main application processor), which is a respectable but not mind-blowing amount of speed. For reference, the upcoming USB 3.1 spec will offer 10Gbps of bandwidth, but a single PCI Express 3.0 lane can offer 8Gbps all by itself (modern PC graphics cards are often connected to 16 of those lanes).

The parts are physically connected together using the M-PHY specification, a capacitive interface that allows the pieces to interface with each other but doesn't require any physical plugs or retention mechanisms. You can clearly see the flat gold contacts in pictures of the endoskeleton and the modules themselves. Using M-PHY should help keep the endoskeletons from wearing out over time.

To keep the phone from flying apart whenever you drop it, Google is also using electropermanent magnets to hold the whole thing together—these use an electric current to effectively enable and disable magnetization at will. Normally, you'd want magnetization flipped on to keep the whole thing together, but you can also turn it off to replace and rearrange blocks at will. The battery integrated into the endoskeleton can keep it powered on even as you put it together, meaning the individual blocks will be hot-swappable.

Since Android is used to running on one phone that doesn't change a whole lot, Google has also needed to add some customizations to the Ara's version of the software to enable all this component swapping. Current versions of the phone are running a fork of Android and will continue to do so "for the foreseeable future," writes Chan. This version of Android will support things like generic UniPro class drivers for components, and new software updates and drivers will be able "to be downloaded through a software distribution system like Google Play." Just as the Ara hardware becomes more PC-like, Android will need to be more PC-like.

Even if it’s possible, can it succeed?

Google wants to bring the first Project Ara phone to market in early 2015—the first prototypes could show up as early as January. The technology seems to be more or less in place. We'd want to get our hands on one ourselves before making any final judgments, but at least on paper, Ara looks intriguing.

The problem for Google is that having something that's "cool" is not the same as having something that is "commercially viable." Even if each of the 19 million viewers of that Phonebloks video committed to buying Ara phones, they'd be just a drop in the smartphone-ownership bucket. Gartner data says that nearly a billion smartphones were sold worldwide in 2014. Apple alone just sold 51 million iPhones in a single quarter.

Why is that important? For Ara to succeed, it needs a committed ecosystem of hardware developers, people who are willing and able to design and build modules. To keep enthusiasts interested (and to deliver on the promise of a phone with a five-year lifespan), those modules will have to continue to keep up with the latest technology. That means getting big names like Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel, and others interested in creating modules for the phone, which by its very nature is something of a niche product. Sales will have to be good to sustain interest beyond the initial launch, because most of those companies seem perfectly happy with the money they're making from current phones and tablets.

Those smartphone sales numbers tell us something else about most smartphone buyers: the fact that many phones aren't repairable or upgradeable just doesn't seem to bother them much. Even things like PCs that were once paragons of modularity are becoming smaller and more tightly integrated—bulky laptops have become sleek Ultrabooks, and boxy PC towers are becoming mini-desktops and all-in-ones.

Most consumers seem willing to trade modularity for other perks, like custom-designed batteries that are non-removable but larger and thus longer-lasting, or CPUs and memory soldered to motherboards that can't be upgraded but reduce total size and weight. Companies aren't removing this sort of expandability because they're evil and want to force people into buying a whole new system for want of a few gigs of RAM (well, at least not exclusively). They're doing it because that's what most people seem to want.

If you look at the way Ara is put together, it's immediately obvious why most OEMs go for more highly integrated phones and laptops. The Verge reports that Google's stated goal for Ara is to make it 25 percent larger, heavier, and more power-hungry than a standard phone with approximately the same specifications and features. According to Tested, just 40 percent of the total size of an Ara module will be available for part makers to use, with the rest dedicated to the magnets and other components that Ara needs. You'll get the expandability you want, but a significant chunk of Ara's size will provide no actual benefit to people in day-to-day use.

Will Ara make its way to market in one form or another? Google seems intent on making it happen, and the company has the size and resources to pull it off. Ara's success will have to be decisive to win (and sustain) OEM and consumer interest, though. Otherwise, the product may not even last long enough to hit that proposed five- to six-year lifespan.

120 Reader Comments

As someone who owns an iPhone and is looking to upgrade to a 5S/6 this coming Fall (depending on whether or not 6 is worth it), a modular phone that is executed well would easily get me to switch to Android.

It's strange that we'd consider moving back to modularity on smartphones, given we've almost gone the opposite direction on other consumer electronics (laptops, for example). You can get a much more efficient and compact unit via a custom design. Most phone upgrades end up with the person upgrading nearly every component of their device, from the RAM to the camera to the screen, and all updates (on a 2 year cycle) are very significant.

I just don't see any way that this will be successful, though I still find the concept fascinating.

Most phone upgrades end up with the person upgrading nearly every component of their device, from the RAM to the camera to the screen, and all updates (on a 2 year cycle) are very significant.

The biggest thing about that is that the phone companies have been massively distorting the perceived prices of smart phones since there were smartphones.

How much does the newest iPhone cost? Ask most people, and they'll probably tell you a figure around $150. And yet, if you go to the apple store and get an unlocked one, it costs $649 - $849 (depending on storage).

Most people don't feel bad about dropping $150 every 2 years for the latest and greatest. I suspect a lot of people would hold on to their phones for an extra year or 3 if they had to pay $850. But! T-Mobile has started a trend that seems to be spreading of actually divorcing the cost of the plan from the cost of the phone, making it apparent, perhaps for the first time for most people, how much they're actually paying for those phones. Assuming the trend picks up and keeps going, this may be the perfect time to introduce a modular phone. With a modular phone, you really could spend $150 every 2 years and mostly have the latest at greatest. Or at least upgrade the parts that you really care about.

Those smartphone sales numbers tell us something else about most smartphone buyers: the fact that many phones aren't repairable or upgradeable just doesn't seem to bother them much.

I would agree with this in part, but you also must consider the current mobile phone ecosystem. Only in the last few years or so did we get solid smartphone options under $500 (the Nexus line) and only in the last year did we get a decent phone under the $200 mark (the Moto G).

Since most carriers up until now have been obscuring the true cost of smartphones by charging $200 up front and covertly adding the rest on to your monthly bill without showing you, most people have no idea what a smartphone truly costs. If you told them they were paying $700 for something they're just going to throw out in 2 years, I could almost guarantee they would change their mind about how "acceptable" it is to throw away a smartphone every two years.

Now that cheaper smartphones are starting to come out and carriers are becoming more transparent with their billing, I think this idea will slowly become more acceptable. I just speak for myself, but I truly believe this would be a much better way to use smartphones and I would most certainly help my family members participate in such a project if I could, much like I build all my family members' computers.

So on the surface, I definitely agree with you. I don't think the demand is quite there yet. But, I do think this would be a much better way to use smartphones, and I think that as people truly begin to understand what that $200 flagship device is really costing them, they'd be more open to the idea of a modular 6-year cell phone.

The Verge reports that Google's stated goal for Ara is to make it 25 percent larger, heavier, and more power-hungry than a standard phone with approximately the same specifications and features. According to Tested, just 40 percent of the total size of an Ara module will be available for part-makers to use, with the rest dedicated to the magnets and other components that Ara needs.

To me this is the biggest problem and one that can't be avoided. A modular phone is going to be bigger and/or have less space for a battery which means less capacity and it is going to be less efficient over all which means that smaller battery will be even more of a handicap.

It's strange that we'd consider moving back to modularity on smartphones, given we've almost gone the opposite direction on other consumer electronics (laptops, for example). You can get a much more efficient and compact unit via a custom design. Most phone upgrades end up with the person upgrading nearly every component of their device, from the RAM to the camera to the screen, and all updates (on a 2 year cycle) are very significant.

I just don't see any way that this will be successful, though I still find the concept fascinating.

When I think about upgrading my current phone (iPhone 4S), the only thing that I'm *dying* to upgrade on it is the RAM and memory. With how strict iOS is with handling apps in the background, and how resource intensive apps are getting to be, I can only switch between 2 apps without one of the apps having their state wiped. 3 will most assuredly have at least one of the apps reset. I don't know how much of an issue this is with Android (never owned one), but there's other reasons I'm staying with Apple for now. And 16GB isn't enough for me anymore now that I'm putting more and more music, videos and pictures onto it.

If I could get basically just an iPhone 4S but with more RAM and memory I would be happy. But to do that I basically have to buy a new phone, and Android devices are basically the same in that regard.

Mostly all of the remaining components on my phone are *good enough.* Hell, even the screen resolution is fine; I actually like the small size of the phone compared to other devices. Going forward, it seems like it's going to be harder and harder for me to have a *small* phone, although the jump from mine to a 5/5S in size isn't too bad, I guess.

Even setting aside the many software complications that would likely arise, an integrated phone will be lighter, smaller, cheaper, tougher, and more reliable than a modular design with the same components. Is it really worth trading all that for customization and repairability?

This is all nice and good, but upgrading your phone isn't just about specs.

You can upgrade the internal components, but it's still going to be the same phone. Same look, same feeling, same size. So the question is, will people actually use this phone longer than any other, non-modular phone before the novelty wears off and they get bored?

It's strange that we'd consider moving back to modularity on smartphones, given we've almost gone the opposite direction on other consumer electronics (laptops, for example). You can get a much more efficient and compact unit via a custom design. Most phone upgrades end up with the person upgrading nearly every component of their device, from the RAM to the camera to the screen, and all updates (on a 2 year cycle) are very significant.

I just don't see any way that this will be successful, though I still find the concept fascinating.

When I think about upgrading my current phone (iPhone 4S), the only thing that I'm *dying* to upgrade on it is the RAM and memory. With how strict iOS is with handling apps in the background, and how resource intensive apps are getting to be, I can only switch between 2 apps without one of the apps having their state wiped. 3 will most assuredly have at least one of the apps reset. I don't know how much of an issue this is with Android (never owned one), but there's other reasons I'm staying with Apple for now. And 16GB isn't enough for me anymore now that I'm putting more and more music, videos and pictures onto it.

If I could get basically just an iPhone 4S but with more RAM and memory I would be happy. But to do that I basically have to buy a new phone, and Android devices are basically the same in that regard.

Mostly all of the remaining components on my phone are *good enough.* Hell, even the screen resolution is fine; I actually like the small size of the phone compared to other devices. Going forward, it seems like it's going to be harder and harder for me to have a *small* phone, although the jump from mine to a 5/5S in size isn't too bad, I guess.

As someone who recently made the switch, i can tell you that after a week of using the iPhone 5 your beloved 4S will feel like a heavy brick with a tiny screen.

I wish all phones were like this. Through this kind of upgradeability and repairability, we could vastly reduce the amount of electronic waste coming from the smartphone market. As miniaturization progresses and smartphones become our only computers, simply plugging into a dock for the desktop form factor experience for example, the amount of electronic waste that something like this could prevent is staggering.

It's strange that we'd consider moving back to modularity on smartphones, given we've almost gone the opposite direction on other consumer electronics (laptops, for example). You can get a much more efficient and compact unit via a custom design. Most phone upgrades end up with the person upgrading nearly every component of their device, from the RAM to the camera to the screen, and all updates (on a 2 year cycle) are very significant.

I just don't see any way that this will be successful, though I still find the concept fascinating.

When I think about upgrading my current phone (iPhone 4S), the only thing that I'm *dying* to upgrade on it is the RAM and memory. With how strict iOS is with handling apps in the background, and how resource intensive apps are getting to be, I can only switch between 2 apps without one of the apps having their state wiped. 3 will most assuredly have at least one of the apps reset. I don't know how much of an issue this is with Android (never owned one), but there's other reasons I'm staying with Apple for now. And 16GB isn't enough for me anymore now that I'm putting more and more music, videos and pictures onto it.

If I could get basically just an iPhone 4S but with more RAM and memory I would be happy. But to do that I basically have to buy a new phone, and Android devices are basically the same in that regard.

Mostly all of the remaining components on my phone are *good enough.* Hell, even the screen resolution is fine; I actually like the small size of the phone compared to other devices. Going forward, it seems like it's going to be harder and harder for me to have a *small* phone, although the jump from mine to a 5/5S in size isn't too bad, I guess.

As someone who recently made the switch, i can tell you that after a week of using the iPhone 5 your beloved 4S will feel like a heavy brick with a tiny screen.

I don't know about that.

I was using a dumb phone up until ~2012. Sometimes I still lament how much bigger my smart phone is in comparison.

It's strange that we'd consider moving back to modularity on smartphones, given we've almost gone the opposite direction on other consumer electronics (laptops, for example). You can get a much more efficient and compact unit via a custom design. Most phone upgrades end up with the person upgrading nearly every component of their device, from the RAM to the camera to the screen, and all updates (on a 2 year cycle) are very significant.

I just don't see any way that this will be successful, though I still find the concept fascinating.

When I think about upgrading my current phone (iPhone 4S), the only thing that I'm *dying* to upgrade on it is the RAM and memory. With how strict iOS is with handling apps in the background, and how resource intensive apps are getting to be, I can only switch between 2 apps without one of the apps having their state wiped. 3 will most assuredly have at least one of the apps reset. I don't know how much of an issue this is with Android (never owned one), but there's other reasons I'm staying with Apple for now. And 16GB isn't enough for me anymore now that I'm putting more and more music, videos and pictures onto it.

If I could get basically just an iPhone 4S but with more RAM and memory I would be happy. But to do that I basically have to buy a new phone, and Android devices are basically the same in that regard.

Mostly all of the remaining components on my phone are *good enough.* Hell, even the screen resolution is fine; I actually like the small size of the phone compared to other devices. Going forward, it seems like it's going to be harder and harder for me to have a *small* phone, although the jump from mine to a 5/5S in size isn't too bad, I guess.

As someone who recently made the switch, i can tell you that after a week of using the iPhone 5 your beloved 4S will feel like a heavy brick with a tiny screen.

so true. i just bought an ipad air, and i call my previous ipad (3) "the brick" (cause it's heavy)

Please, please, please, PLEASE, for the love of pete, let there be a slider keyboard module!

If there's an option to get high-end SoC, decent screen (720p 4.5" is plenty), and a keyboard, I'm all over it. Especially if there are different options for the keyboard. But, I'd settle for a single slider keyboard module.

The Verge reports that Google's stated goal for Ara is to make it 25 percent larger, heavier, and more power-hungry than a standard phone with approximately the same specifications and features. According to Tested, just 40 percent of the total size of an Ara module will be available for part-makers to use, with the rest dedicated to the magnets and other components that Ara needs.

To me this is the biggest problem and one that can't be avoided. A modular phone is going to be bigger and/or have less space for a battery which means less capacity and it is going to be less efficient over all which means that smaller battery will be even more of a handicap.

Agreed. My take-away from that, is that there is a very high chance that (if this thing gets off of the ground at all in any form) this magnet-based modular phone will very quickly be followed up by a cheaper, lighter, and smaller version which instead uses something like mini-rails and clips to keep the components in place.

I hope that there'd be a way to hard-lock the modules in place with the internal battery, since I'd hate it if someone were to, say, steal my camera and switch it for theirs, or something similar. Why steal someone's phone when you can just steal the parts and have them all work in yours?

These are strange times. Modularization and swap-ability (soldered RAM, glued batteries, etc) are being killed in the PC market in the name of mobility and now you have a mobile initiative that wants to be PC-like, modular and swap-able.

Companies aren't removing this sort of expandability because they're evil and want to force people into buying a whole new system for want of a few gigs of RAM (well, at least not exclusively). They're doing it because that's what most people seem to want.

ROFL - Have to salute the quality of plausible deniability that has an Ars writer toeing the line.

Speed of replacement is one the things most attractive about selling smartphones. The vendors love this and hate selling things that last. What did Steve Jobs say about staying out of the TV market? Something about how consumers keep them more than 10 years?

Profits are good when your greedy purpose is well covered by some actual design benefits.

Please let me purchase a phone with a so-so processor, up to date OS, gobs of RAM, and a shit ton of storage space... (and the rest is all batteries...). That phone would do me nicely.

I currently have a 2 year old Samsung Galaxy S3 (AT&T, with Android 4.3) which kind of fits that description. Old dual-core Snapdragon, but came with 2 Gigs of RAM, and I haven't run out of space with my 64 Gb MicroSD. And it lasts two days with the official, extended 3000 mAh battery. Haven't seen the need to upgrade yet.

I hope that there'd be a way to hard-lock the modules in place with the internal battery, since I'd hate it if someone were to, say, steal my camera and switch it for theirs, or something similar. Why steal someone's phone when you can just steal the parts and have them all work in yours?

I'd say that's a better scenario than with an integrated smartphone, where they'd just take the whole thing. In your hypothetical scenario at least you'd still have the rest of the phone.

I think it's a moot point though. If someone with the intention of stealing from you gets their hands on your phone why wouldn't they just take the whole thing? It would actually be more time and trouble for less profit to only steal part of it.

And I'd totally get one of these phones for my wife so we could inexpensively replace the screen when she inevitably cracks it, and she doesn't carry it in her pocket so the extra bulk wouldn't be much of an issue.

I think this is going to be a big deal for the medical and industrial field. You could buy custom devices (not just a phone) that have very specific applications, the ability to hot swap batteries is also a great feature that would do well in these types of environments.

While I think this is a mondo cool concept, the fact that every module needs a module capable of communicating at 10Gbps (even the camera), makes me think it's going to be hard to keep the phone cheap.

The Electropermanent magnet idea sounds fun, but it's hard to see how it will be cost effective compared to a simple mechanical latch. Plus, a latch won't erase your credit cards or make your phone stick to your glasses.

If this ever makes it out of the lab, it seems doomed to offer only a bulky slow expensive phone that you probably won't change the components in much anyway. I hope Google tries anyway though, because one of the things they'll have to do to make this work is standardize many parts of the cellphone, and if there are standards then other manufacturers might follow them and get us to a place where we can install new versions of Android on any phone without having to filter them through the manufacturer and carrier first.

Those smartphone sales numbers tell us something else about most smartphone buyers: the fact that many phones aren't repairable or upgradeable just doesn't seem to bother them much

The market doesn't tell you anything about that, because there are no choices in that regard. Your choices are "extremely difficult to repair or upgrade" vs "impossible to repair or upgrade". Of course people don't distinguish. The question is whether, given the option, "easy to repair and upgrade" will be chosen.

Personally I think this is quite interesting, but I would want to swap out the "Android" module for something else. I imagine that will not be available for a while....

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.